Fate's Game
by DuneChild
Summary: Neji wished it was a dream, Hinata prayed it was a nightmare, and Tenten hoped it could be a miracle. But it's fate's game now, and he's playing for keeps. NejiTen, with a side of NaruHina.
1. I: The Die Are Cast

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Fate's Game

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Chapter I: The Die Are Cast

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Summary: Neji wished it was a dream. Hinata prayed it was a nightmare. Tenten hoped it was a miracle. But it's fate's game, now, and he's playing for keeps.

Pairings: NejiTen, NaruHina

Rating: T, for some language and mature themes.

Disclaimer: Let this apply to all future chapters - I do not, and never shall own _Naruto_ or the characters therein, however much I wish it were otherwise. Which is why this is called _fanfiction. net. _

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Even through her thick jacket Hinata could feel cold radiating from the walls, and she shivered. Her eyes skimmed the chamber without really seeing the white walls, stark in their focused functionality, even as her father strode past her, his back ram-rod straight and his face frozen in an expression of aloof detachedness. He did not look at her.

Her icy hands clutched each other a little tighter in her lap.

Her cousin slid wordlessly into the seat beside her. His jaw was tight, his hands fisted. He did not look at her either. If he had, she could not have met his eyes.

White-eyed relatives filed wordlessly into the room. The young ones seemed oblivious, or bored. But the old ones--their proud faces told her that they knew exactly why they were there. Every so often a mother, standing with her teenage daughter, would glare at Hinata, as if to say, _it should have been my daughter_.

_Gladly_, Hinata thought bitterly. _Anyone but me_.

It was an honor, the Hyuuga in her said hollowly. And girls would kill to fill her shoes. But she held no illusions as to the reason why it was she who sat in the seat of honor; Hyuuga Hiashi had made that overwhelmingly clear, and the note she had received that morning was one she had anticipated for a long time. It read:

Hyuuga Hinata,

Your presence is formally requested at a meeting of the Hyuuga clan concerning your impending engagement to Hyuuga Neji this evening at 8:00.

There was no signature and no question in that message. Hinata had spent the greater part of the day preparing herself for the gathering, but already she could see that her preparation had been in vain. As the chamber filled she felt her chest growing tight and her pulse racing. She focused her gaze on her hands, clenched in her lap. They were shaking, and much to her chagrin, she seemed quite unable to stop them.

She felt the familiar burning in her eyes that foretold tears and squeezed her eyes shut to hold them back them. She had to be strong.

She suddenly felt an irrational urge to laugh. Strong. That was certainly something she'd never been, at least not in her father's eyes. Hinata was not stupid. She knew her father had long wished that his wife had borne him a son, a son like Neji who was talented and wise and everything a clan head should be. And she knew that it was politics that promised her to Neji. Married to her, Neji could legitimately assume Hiashi's position when the time came, and she would be where she belonged: dolled up on the sidelines, planning banquets and bearing children that would inherit Neji's strength and her obedience.

The tears threatened again, and again Hinata strove to push them back. It would do her no good to show weakness here. Not now. A lone tear slipped down her cheek and she hastily wiped it away.

Beside her, Neji focused his gaze on a point on the far wall. He could feel Hinata sitting tensely in her chair, could feel her distress and would have tried to comfort her, but did not trust himself to speak. It seemed almost like a dream, and so he ignored it, held his breath and his anger and hoped that he would wake up.

So when Hiashi stood to speak, Neji remained silent. His heart pounded, and he waited for the inevitable. The gathering was a formality. The reality was that the decision had been made when they were barely children. Hinata had been weak, and Hiashi had despised her weakness. He had cast about for the heir for which he longed, and he had spied Neji. The cards were dealt long before Neji or Hinata even knew the game.

And as Hiashi stood to address the countless eyes staring at him, Neji could almost hear the enormous celestial die crashing down about him, as it to say, "You never stood a chance."

His eyes drifted for a moment to his uncle, who seemed to have set aside any pretense of fatherly affection. His words echoed in the cold room and embedded themselves in Neji's mind.

_Weak. Ill-suited. Unfit. Useless. Strength. Skill. Pure. _

_Pure. _

_Pure._

His eyes snapped back to the wall. He bit his tongue and tasted blood. The pain was enough to keep him from speaking out, which was just as well. He did not trust himself to speak.

And then it was over. The silence had dissolved into excited twitters, congratulations and glances. Hinata glanced at Neji as they rose to leave, as if meaning to say something, but the look on Neji's face stilled her thoughts. Instead she followed Neji silently to the door. They walked wordlessly to their respective rooms, both closing their doors softly behind them.

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Yay!! Chapter One is up! It's short, I know, certainly shorter than I'd like. The chapters will get longer as it progresses. I'm trying really hard to get Ch. II in post-able shape. This is the first fic I've ever gotten up the nerve to post and had the time to finish, so constructive criticism is welcome and encouraged.

**THERE IS...**a special circle in hell reserved for those who flame without purpose, and most unfortunately, I can't immediately place people there. But hey, anything's welcome.


	2. II: Stagnant Stakes

--I rather love page breaks. And yes, I do realize that I haven't touched this in what...months? Yeah... I needed to work out some editorial issues, as well as figuring out how not to make it an entirely internal-musing type fic, a breed I myself find irritating. So I've done some editing on Ch. II, which is reposted, and I'm expecting to have Ch. III up in a few days!

Love to all,  
Dunie

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**Fate's Game**

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Chapter II: Stagnant Stakes

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Neji was late, and Tenten was worried.

The pale morning sun peered through the trees and threw playfully mottled shadows across her face as she stifled a yawn and lowered herself to the ground. It had to be nearly six o'clock, and Neji was nowhere to be found. She ran a hand over her dark hair, still damp from the shower, just barely contained by the ribbons holding her buns in place. Her fingers found a loose strand and tugged. Half her hair tumbled about her shoulders. Irritated, she tore loose the rest and ran her fingers through it as she slumped against a thick tree trunk.

Her frustration was rational, certainly. It was unlike Neji to do this, to not come. He would not simply not come, without any notice, nor would he forget. She knew him. This was not like him. Her hands furiously fumbled with a particularly stubborn snarl.

_Calm down._

That little voice annoyed her sometimes. It sounded irritatingly like Neji.

_Inhale. Exhale. Inhale. Exhale._

Tenten closed her eyes.

_Inhale. Exhale. Inhale. Exhale._

Her hands fell to her lap. She wondered vaguely whether Neji would come at all.

_Inhale. Exhale. Inhale. Exhale._

In the silence of her mind, another little voice started to whisper. What if he's not alright? Her eyelid twitched.

_Inhale. Exhale._

Screw it. It was difficult, really, this meditation of Neji's. A mind as rebellious as hers did not like to be silent. Still, she reasoned, what if he really wasn't alright? It was a concept Tenten found hard to grasp. Neji had always been alright. He was the strong one, the skilled and capable one. It was herself and Lee who too often found themselves in over their heads.

No, she corrected herself. That wasn't quite right. Everyone had their demons, and Neji was no exception. His lineage and his father's memory haunted him, and his clan did nothing to ease that pain. But he was different. He didn't want to be saved. He wanted to save himself.

The gentle vibrations of approaching footsteps rose through Tenten's motionless body and her eyes snapped open. Neji walked toward her, his unreadable eyes on her loose, damp hair.

She sprang to her feet, her hands fumbling anxiously for forgotten ribbons. As she hastily bound back her hair, she began to ask, "Where--?" But as she turned toward him she caught a glimpse of his face. "--were you?" fell from her lips as a whisper and hovered in the still morning air. There was an unusual tenseness there, a hardness in his jaw and a coldness in his pearly eyes, fixed on a point in the distance. She turned to look with him, but saw nothing.

Neji must have telepathically sensed her inquisitive glance, because he turned abruptly to face her. "You could have started without me," he said quietly.

"I could have," Tenten agreed. She didn't elaborate, and Neji didn't ask her to.

In the six years since being assigned to Team Gai, they had developed a routine. They helped each other, trained together, and talked occasionally. They were, she supposed, friends. But he did not ask questions, and neither did she, beyond the habitual, "When and where?" regarding the next day's training session.

In the world beyond her thoughts, Tenten and Neji sparred.

It struck Tenten, as she casually flung projectiles through the air, that though she was the person who spent the most time with Neji, and knew him better than most, she really didn't understand him.

True, she knew the inner workings of the byakugan. She knew his family almost as well as he did, and she knew the meaning behind every curl of his lip and every tilt of his head. But after six years, she still had no idea what he thought about on days like this, when his eyes became a prison for his thoughts. She didn't know what he saw when he gazed on the red sunrise, or if he noticed the way the sun reflected on her kunai as they flew toward him. She had no idea what he thought about her.

Ah, she thought, launching another barrage of weaponry before nimbly dodging one of her own deflected projectiles. Must we go though this again?

And the snide voice in her head replied, It's your mind.

In the time she'd known Neji, even in Academy days, she'd admired him even more than her sensei. She had striven for his attention and approval, and when admiration did not buy it, that admiration had become fierce competitiveness. He noticed her then, if only because they were assigned to the same team, and her admiration grew into unmatched loyalty, unwavering friendship and finally something she had a hard time convincing herself wasn't love.

Her eyes softened slightly, and she felt a rush of the emotion she usually tried so hard to suppress as the fragile morning sunlight caressed Neji's hair.

Dammit.

It wasn't right, the way her heart seemed to disobey every order her head gave. It knew better. She certainly knew better. She was a shinobi. Emotions got in the way. They were a liability. They were weakness.

She knew all this, and more importantly she knew that Neji knew all this, and despite it all, she had still fallen in love with the uptight ass, and it seemed that there was very little she could do about it.

Tenten was abruptly startled from her reverie by a jerk and a thud. She glanced up to find Neji's hands roughly grasping her arms and one of her own kunai imbedded in the tree trunk beside her head. She looked away in embarrassment as her reprimanded her sharply, "You're distracted. That could have been fatal."

Her head had not quite caught up to her heart when she turned her own gaze to match his and snapped, "You're distracted, too, or you would have noticed my distraction and not fired a potentially deadly projectile at my head."

Neji deigned not to reply, instead dropping elegantly to the ground. Without looking at her, he said, "We're finished for today."

She gazed down at him, waiting for her body to return to its natural rhythms before yanking her kunai from the tree and following him back to earth.

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--Yes, Dunie did kill old author's note, but again feels compelled to rewrite it, despite the one at the beginning! She just enjoys communicating in a non-specific way, along with inserting long grey lines and referring to herself in the third person. In any case, **reviews **are always welcome, although flamers are advised to channel their talents in a more productive direction. Flambé, anyone? Mmm...


	3. III: Digging a Deeper Hole

**Title: Fate's Game**

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Chapter III: Digging a Deeper Hole

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Neji leaned against a wooden training post, his legs folded and eyes closed in serene meditation, but beneath the surface his thoughts raced, stumbling over each other and chasing themselves in dizzy circles.

He cracked one eye and watched Tenten as she caught her breath, apparently still a little shaken by her near-meeting with one of her own kunai. As if sensing his gaze she turned toward him, and his eye snapped shut. A lesser man would have blushed.

But Neji had bigger fish to fry, so to speak. Unfortunately, he was not an experienced metaphorical fry cook. He wasn't even sure if he'd caught the fish yet. Or what exactly the fish were, metaphorically speaking. But whatever the mental-culinary metaphor, he was engaged. To Hinata, no less. Six years ago, he would have bowed his head and accepted his lot. But now...

Neji had spent six years trying to discard his perception of life as a preordained set of events which would come to pass regardless of human wishes and human actions. He had spent six years learning to trust, learning to hope.

Hinata, too, had put her all into learning to change. He had rebelled against his status as a member of the branch house; Hinata had rebelled against the clan's belief in her inadequacy. She had trained until her hands bled and she collapsed from exhaustion, only to repeat the process the next day. She had exceeded her teammates' exectations, her sensei's expectations, and certainly her own as well.

But these worlds that they were building had been shaken to their foundations.

It was clear that however far he strayed into this wonderful, foreign world of possibility, Neji would always be pulled back into the preordained microcosm of Hyuuga, where he would always be, however regrettable it was to the elders, a subordinate. He was expected to marry Hinata, who while bearing the official title of leader would be little more than a housewife. He would produce heirs who would inherit his skill to carry on the Hyuuga line. He would serve as the strong front of the clan, while acting upon whispered commands from the main house elders.

And he had no choice. True, while the option of throwing himself from someplace very high (the hokage monument was looking ideal at the moment) had occurred to him on more than one occasion, death by long fall, sudden splat had never been his preferred method of expiration. Running away had seemed acceptable at first; true, he would be a traitor, but as long as he kept his head down and was careful it was likely he would never be found. But he couldn't leave Hinata here alone. If he left, she would be wed to the next in line; another would step in to take his place, and nothing would change.

For a heartless bastard, he thought with an inward smirk, he really was quite considerate.

And Hinata would never come with him. She trusted him, yes, and she loved him as a cousin, a brother even. But she couldn't leave, and Neji knew it was because of Naruto.

Neji repressed the automatic snort of disdain that typically acommpanied the name. Snorts did not suit him.

"Hey."

Neji cracked an eye. Tenten stood over him. "I didn't eat breakfast, so I'm going to go grab some food. You want to come?"

"No."

"Oh." Tenten glanced at the ground. "I'll see you later, then." She turned to leave.

Neji cleared his throat, and Tenten paused expectantly, but when he did not speak, she continued on her way. When he could no longer see her retreating back, he sighed.

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Tenten kicked a dirt clod as she walked, keeping her eyes on the dusty street. On any other day, she would have gone for dango, but today...

Something was screwy with Neji. And that threw Tenten's whole world off-center. She needed comfort food. She needed ramen.

She walked into Ichiraku's and was greeted with the familiar scent of ramen. Her spirits rose, if fractionally. She seated herself at the end of the bar and began toying absently with a stray strand of hair. Something moved in her peripheral vision, and she looked up to see Hinata seat herself at the opposite end. Whether Hinata was purposefully avoiding her or had simply caught whatever Neji had, Tenten couldn't say.

She stared at her hands, white-knuckled fists in her lap. She had to figure this out.

Taking a deep breath (_for strength_), she stood, walked along the bar and sat beside Hinata. The girl tensed.

"Hinata."

No response.

"Please. I need to talk to you."

Hinata looked up at Tenten, and the older girl saw tears in the Hyuuga's eyes. "Hinata," she said gently, "it's okay. It is. Just tell me what's wrong."

Hinata's face fell as a tear snaked its way down her cheek. "N-no," she choked out. "It's not okay." She was silent for a moment. "I'm getting married."

Silence fell over the empty noodle bar. There was a flurry of movement in the doorway, and Tenten turned in time to see an orange-clad back moving swiftly away from them. She looked back to Hinata. Her face was ashen. She made as though to stand, but Tenten grabbed her sleeve. "No. Talk first, Naruto later."

Hinata faltered, then returned to her seat. The two girls sat in silence for a moment. Then Hinata said, her voice still shaking, "I-I didn't even know until yesterday."

"Oh, Hinata." Tenten saw it all too clearly: the Hyuuga heiress, the perfect chess piece in the game of inter-house relations. "I'm sorry."

"Me, too."

"Is that why Neji is so off?"

Tenten was taken aback when Hinata laughed bitterly. "Oh, yes," she said quietly. "That's why he's 'off.'"

"Hinata," Tenten said slowly, "I'm sorry, but I think I'm missing something here."

Hinata's face fell again, and her pale eyes again filled with tears. After a long silence, Hinata finally replied, "I'm getting married..."

"Yes," Tenten said, confused. "I know, and I'm so sorry, Hinata."

"No," said Hinata. "You didn't let me finish." She took a deep, shaking breath. "I'm getting married to Neji."

And Tenten's world shattered.

_

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--I know!! _I promised to work on the whole introspective/internal monologue bit, and I really am. Look, plot movement! Character interaction! _Dialogue!! _But really, the way I see it, I have to get through this stuff to really be able to make the end sparser and more dialogue/action-centered. So please bear with me. I'm really really trying to make this work. And I'm trying to keep it lighter and somewhat less suicidal, though I think suicidal Neji was more comic than most of the story so far. Irony, anyone?

My one issue, **specifically for reviewers**, is a better title for the chapter. It's okay, I suppose, but I'd really like to tie it back to the whole "game, dice, stakes, etc." theme. Suggestions are welcome.

In any case, thanks _bunches, _for lack of a better term to express the amplitude of my gratitude toward you awesomely awesome people, to my wonderful readers and reviewers. If more of the former would join the latter, I would sing for joy. Literally. I do that sometimes. And cross-apply my notes to flamers from Ch. I and II. Am I a debater or what?

'Til next time!  
-Dunie


	4. IV: Deal Me In

**Fate's Game**

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Chapter IV: Deal Me In

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When she was six, Tenten had gone swimming with a group of her classmates. It was spring, and the current was strong. The pull of the water against her bare ankles had felt strange, but in a good way, and the little white swirls on the water's surface made her laugh. As her friends splashed each other and chased minnows in the shallows, she waded deeper and deeper into the playful river.

Without warning, the riverbed had disappeared beneath her feet and the rushing current pulled her under. The water was murky, and all she could see was brown, no sun, no sky, only the bubbles of her breath rushing away as her lungs slowly emptied.

It was the only thing she could compare the way her breath seemed to stop now, seemingly of its own volition, as her chest tightened and all she could hear was an empty ringing in her ears. The world seemed to stop turning.

"Tenten?"

Hinata's timid whisper seemed to bring Tenten out of her daze. She breathed out slowly, painfully, and closed her eyes. "Yeah."

"I'm sorry."

Tenten opened her eyes and met Hinata's apologetic gaze with a wry smile. "I know. It's not your fault."

They sat in silence for a while. Tenten idly toyed with her chopsticks, while Hinata seemed to have lost her appetite and sat staring at her hands in her lap. Finally, Tenten asked, "How did this happen?"

Hinata kept her eyes down. "My father always wished it was Neji, not me, who would lead the clan someday. I guess this is his way of getting it. I--" Her voice faltered as tears threatened to spill again. "I-I always knew I would have an arranged marriage. A-and I knew it would probably be Neji. It used to be a tradition, this kind of marriage. And I--" Her voice caught. "I guess I just..."

"Hoped against all hope," Tenten finished softly. "I know what you mean."

Minutes passed. Tenten counted the flies that buzzed over the counter as the day's heat built outside. Hinata said, "Tenten?"

The older girl looked up.

"Do you--" Hinata paused. "Do you love Neji?"

The question surprised Tenten. She bit her lip and closed her eyes. "Does it matter?"

"You do, then?"

Tenten didn't answer for a moment. Then, her eyes still closed, "Yes."

They fell back into silence, slowly finishing their food, each lost in her own thoughts. Together, they stood, left and walked along the street. After a while, Tenten asked, "Where are we going?"

Hinata glanced at her in surprise. "I thought you were driving."

They stared at each other for a moment, then burst into raucous laughter at the ridiculousness, the irrationality of it, of everything. Leaning on each other for support, and ignoring a few odd glances from passing strangers, they made their way to a bench and sat, side by side, giggling and crying all at once.

Finally they stopped, their faces pink and their eyes red-rimmed. Tenten watched the passersby, lugging bags of groceries or dragging whining children.

"They don't know how lucky they are, do they?" she asked, half to herself.

"No," Hinata murmured. "But would you want to be them? Really?"

The question hung in the air as the girls gazed at the people streaming by, each caught up in their own little world. A little girl, maybe five years old, tripped over a boy's shoe and fell on her face. She screamed, and blood dripped from a scrape on her knee. A woman knelt by the girl and spoke to her for a moment, then turned to the boy - the girl's brother, it seemed - and scolded him. He looked down, but when the woman turned away, he poked the girl and stuck out his tongue. The girl tried to hit him, but he dodged away, laughing.

Tenten sighed and turned to Hinata. "What are you going to do?"

Hinata seemed genuinely surprised. "What?"

Tenten said, "Well, you can't be seriously thinking about going through with it."

Hinata looked away. "You can't understand. You don't know..." She trailed off. "This isn't up to me. It's my father's decision. I'll deal with it."

"Even if it makes you unhappy."

Hinata stared determinedly into the distance. "Of course."

"Even if it kills you!" Hinata's head whipped around, her eyes wide at Tenten's outburst. "Hinata, I do understand, and you simply can't be serious! You'll be absolutely miserable. You'll hate yourself for going through with it. And what about Neji? Will you damn him to this awful life too, just because your father says so?"

Hinata didn't answer. Twin tears snaked down her cheeks.

"Oh, Hinata." Tenten placed a gentle hand on the girl's shoulder. "I'm sorry. I..." She sighed. "I'm just angry. Not with you. With your father. With your family. With this screwy situation. With Neji."

Hinata looked up in surprise. "Neji?"

"He didn't tell me."

Hinata's eyes softened. "Tenten, he deals with his problems on his own. That's just how he is."

Tenten sighed again. "I know."

"You say that," Hinata said in a rare show of boldness, "but do you? He cares about you, you know."

Tenten didn't reply.

"He knew this was coming. I did too." Hinata paused. "He probably didn't want you to get involved. He didn't want you to get hurt."

Tenten's voice was controlled and quiet. "I'm his friend. Whether I love him or not, whether he loves me or not, I'm his friend, and I'm involved whether he likes it or not."

She stood, her frame tense and knuckles white. Then she turned and looked again at Hinata. "You can't do this to yourself. I know you think you have a duty to your family, but you have a duty to yourself, too. Please, Hinata. You deserve better than this."

She started to walk away, paused and turned. "And you might want to track down Naruto," she added softly. "I don't know what he heard, but I think you need to talk to him."

And she walked off, her stride long and purposeful, her head high and her jaw tight. Hinata looked after her, her eyes stinging with all-too familiar tears. She shook her head. No. She was stronger than this.

She sat alone for a while longer, then stood, not as tall as Tenten, but with a certain determination replacing resignation on her face as she was quickly swallowed up into the crowd.

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--Another chapter! I'm a bit unsure about this one, and I realise it's rather slow-paced, but I assure you, it's necessary. I promise, up next: flinging of blunt objects, raised voices, and a pissed-off character.

**Vote**for the secondary character you want to see Dunie make very very angry, and pretty please **review**! A quick thank-you to my most vigilant reviewers, Shikyo no Amatsu Shinsei and TentensBestFriend, and to everyone else for their hearty encouragement and moral support!

'Til next time, love to all,  
Dunie


	5. V: Tabletalk

**Fate's Game**

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Chapter V: Tabletalk

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Sakura's day had been going rather well. She had set a little girl's broken wrist and diagnosed an elderly man with rather unsightly puss-filled boils, both with minimal fuss, and at Lady Tsunade's request had been making an unremarkable trip to the lab with a batch of blood samples.

Had been.

Unbeknownst to Sakura, her pleasantly mundane morning was about to receive a most unexpected burst of color (that color being orange) when she collided with a large, painful, vaguely human-shaped blur as she rounded a corner.

"Sakura!"

Stumbling, she scrambled to save her falling samples. One slipped through her fingers and she flinched, anticipating the sound of shattering glass. Nothing. She looked up to see Naruto with the imperiled vial in his hand. She straightened and smiled brightly. "You know, one generally walks in a hospital."

Naruto responded with a sad "mmh." Sakura looked at him inquisitively. "Are you here because you're bored, or are you actually sick for once? You're definitely due for malnutrition; the ramen diet will do that." No response. Sakura sighed and took the stray sample from him. "Fine, come on. I'm taking these to the lab, and you've obviously got a problem, so let's talk."

She set off at a brisk pace, stopped, turned and stared pointedly at Naruto, who still stood motionless at the site of their collision. "What. The. Hell."

Naruto shifted his eyes from the floor to a spot slightly to the left of her head.

Sakura ran a hand through her hair with aggravation. "Look," she said, her voice laced with something akin to cyanide, "if you don't get moving, I'll shove you down consecutive flights of stairs until you scream, because then at least you'll be talking. I don't know what's wrong with you, but a good head injury should clear it right up. Now move, I have to get to the lab."

The threat of Sakura-induced injury seemed to have some influence, and Naruto shook himself from his stupor and walked beside his friend. She smiled. "Now," she said, "what's the problem?"

Naruto's face contorted interestingly.

Sakura was rather at a loss. Naruto was not a person who had problems, at least not problems that he couldn't talk about. In fact, when in a mess he tended to be quite vocal about it, a trait that more often that not got him in even more trouble.

Naruto spoke, startling Sakura from her thoughts. "Do girls usually cry when they get married?"

Sakura raised an eyebrow. "Sometimes. Usually it's because they're happy. Who's getting married?"

"A girl."

"Yes, Naruto," Sakura said. "Generally it's a girl who gets married, and a boy too." Naruto scowled at her, and Sakura grinned. "Anyone I know?"

Naruto didn't answer. Sakura's grin faded. "Not this again. Grab the door for me, will you?"

Naruto opened the door to the lab. Sakura crossed to the back counter and set down the samples. "I have to organize these quick, then we'll run to Ichiraku's and talk."

"I'd rather not."

Sakura turned slowly. "You don't want to go to Ichiraku's. For _ramen._" Naruto shrugged. "Okay," Sakura said. "You're telling me everything. Now." She gestured to a chair. Naruto sat, and Sakura pulled up a seat opposite. On the inside, she grinned. She loved playing therapist.

Striking her most serious pose, she asked in a mock-professional tone, "What happened?"

And Naruto told her.

Sakura took a deep breath. "Okay, so let's get this straight. Hinata told Tenten she was getting married. And she was crying." Naruto nodded. "Happy tears?"

Naruto looked confused. "She was crying. And then I left."

Sakura massaged her temples. _Boys._"Crying can mean different things. And do you know who she's engaged to?" Naruto shook his head. "When this happened?" He shook his head again. Sakura sighed. "So why are you so messed up?"

Naruto looked genuinely bewildered. "I'm not."

Sakura gave him an incredulous stare. "You come running in here, looking physically sick, refuse to talk, refuse _ramen_. Either you're having an emotional crisis or you managed to kiss Sasuke again. Which would probably also qualify as an emotional crisis."

Naruto gave her a withering glare. "I'm not having an 'emotional crisis,' and I didn't kiss Sasuke." Sakura stood and resumed organizing her forgotten blood samples. Naruto continued, "It's just, when Hinata said she was getting married, it didn't seem right. So I left."

Her back turned, Sakura answered, "Maybe it seemed wrong because you were eavesdropping on her conversation."

"No," Naruto said, completely missing the sarcasm, "it was just weird. I was going to go throw stuff at Sasuke, but I figured you'd be mad, so I came here instead."

Sakura grinned. "You like her."

"What?"

Sakura heaved an exasperated sigh. "Are you romantically _dyslexic_?"

Naruto flushed. "H-hey! You're not one to talk!"

Sakura's tone was deceptively light. "What are you talking about?"

"Well," Naruto said, oblivious to his impending doom, "you're the one who's been competing with your best friend for the same guy since you were six."

Sakura turned slowly on her heel. "_I _am not the one here with no romantic experience whatsoever. _I _am not the one with issues here. _You _came to _me_for help." She smiled suddenly. "And for your information, Ino has a steady boyfriend with whom she is _very _happy, and I..." She trailed off.

"You what?" Even Naruto couldn't miss that "I'm hiding something" moment. Sakura turned back to her blood samples, the color building in her cheeks.

"Come on!" Naruto made puppy-dog eyes at her back. "You what? You finally decided Sasuke is an ass? You dye your hair? You've fallen madly in love with Lee?" Sakura snorted. "Tell me!"

Sakura smiled. "Let's just say," she said slowly, choosing her words carefully, "that I don't need to compete over Sasuke with _anyone_ anymore."

Naruto gave her a blank stare.

"I'm engaged."

Naruto feigned fainting in his chair. "Sasuke's going to kill him."

Sakura rolled her eyes. _Is he really this dense? _"I don't think Sasuke's too fond of suicide."

From the look on Naruto's face, he really _was_ that dense. A moment passed in silence. His eyes grew wide. "You didn't TELL me?!"

Sakura's face was roughly the same shade as her hair. "Don't you have an engaged girlfriend to deal with?" she asked huffily. Naruto picked up his jaw from the floor and blushed. "Seriously, though," Sakura continued, "you do realize that you like her?" Naruto's red face was answer enough. "Then, for the love of all things glittery, go and talk to her!"

"All things glittery?"

"That's beside the point." She slipped the last of her blood samples into a test tube rack (finally) and brushed imaginary dust from the front of her white coat, which wasn't exactly required, but which she wore anyway because it made her waist and hips look amazing. "Look. I know you're absolutely clueless here, but go talk to her. That's all I'll tell you to do, but I can guarantee that it'll do you both a world of good."

From the look on Naruto's face, he was finally coming to. "So, do you think she's really getting married?"

Sakura smiled. "I don't know. I don't read minds." _Or hearts, for that matter._

"But Sakura!" Naruto said, "what am I supposed to say?" Sakura just walked past him out of the lab and headed down the hall. "But-but-!"

Sakura glanced over her shoulder. "As romantically inept as you are, I'm sure you'll figure something out." She grinned. "I have to go meet my _fiancee _for lunch."

"But you said we were going to get ramen!"

But Naruto's plea (whine), even coupled with puppy-dog eyes, proved ineffective as her footsteps grew fainter, and an echoing call reached his ears, "Were we?"

He could almost hear the smirk. She really was spending too much time with Sasuke.

* * *

--Hey! It's another chapter, and I'm sorry for the lack of flying blunt objects. I really do love blunt force trauma to the head (thank you, CSI!), but plans changed. Next chapter gets back to Hinata and Neji (in theory), but I absolutely had to write some Sakura. Sure, Naruto's a little OOC, but considering the circumstances, I would be too. And I do love him, dense as he is. In any case, Chapter VI is coming shortly. Thank you to all my wonderful readers and reviewers; you make life liveable.

Please R&R- the pretty purple button is so close...so...close...  
Lotsa love,  
Dunie


	6. VI: Calling Trump

**Fate's Game**

* * *

Chapter VI: Calling Trump

* * *

Hinata's heart was pounding as she wove her way through the stream of passersby, and her thoughts moved so fast they felt like a buzzing in her ears.

What was she doing? More importantly, what was she _thinking_?

Tenten had been right, of course. If she went through with this betrothal, this marriage, she would be downright miserable her entire life. But Tenten didn't understand. She couldn't understand.

Hinata was Hyuuga. Tenten wasn't. It was that simple. She was born Hyuuga, lived Hyuuga, and would die Hyuuga. It was her fate.

And perhaps it was fate that intervened at that moment, as a stray cat darted in front of her, and Hinata tripped, fell, and landed on her face.

Hinata almost laughed aloud at herself. _Some shinobi you are today,_she thought wryly. She pushed herself up, but when she put weight on her leg it collapsed as if made of jello. In the dirt again, Hinata rolled onto her back and glared at the bright blue sky. Someone hated her today.

A shadow suddenly blocked her view, and she squinted at the face hovering over her. For a moment, all she see was blonde, and she nearly fainted in horror at the possibility of Naruto stumbling over her, incapacitated, in the middle of the street.

The figure shifted a bit, and Hinata sighed in relief. _Ino_. The girl dropped to a crouch beside Hinata, her eyes narrowed in concern. "What happened to you?"

Hinata flushed. "I-I fell."

Ino's face broke into a teasing grin. "What, you were so blinded by my beauty that you couldn't keep your balance?"

Hinata managed a weak grin. "Sure."

Ino frowned briefly. "You okay?"

"W-well, I can't exactly w-walk."

"That," Ino said decisively, "is something we can fix." She looped an arm around Hinata's shoulders and pulled her to her feet. "Let's get you to Sakura. From what I hear, she's got it pretty easy running errands for Tsunade. I hear she's over at the hospital toady; we should pay her a visit."

Ino's mind, when made up, was impossible to change, so Hinata allowed herself to be dragged down the street, her captor fueling the one-sided conversation. She caught bits about Shikamaru, coffee, and too much shogi, as well as something about Ibiki's ass, but for the most part Ino's chatter blurred into a hum. Any confidence she'd managed to hold on to deserted her as the hospital building came into view, the Hokage monument looming foreboding in the background. On the list of people she didn't want to see, Sakura - Naruto's friend, teammate, and sometimes crush - was topped only by her own father. This was going to be the doctor's visit from hell.

* * *

Sakura fell into a plush chair, its generous upholstery a godsend to her exhausted muscles. She wasn't exactly sure whose office she had commandeered, but she deserved a break, she thought as she put her feet up on the desk. Tsunade was truly evil. _A day at the clinic will be relaxing_, she said. _It will be a vacation, _she said. Ha. If a twelve bar-brawl victims and a man who accidentally cut off all but two of his own toes were a vacation, Sakura would hate to see a work day.

She put her feet up on the desk. To top it off, Naruto was running around like a chicken with its head cut off. She didn't know what Hinata was doing, but she would be answering to Sakura for this whole wedding thing. She sighed. She needed her vacation, and she was going to get it, even if it was a ten-minute nap in someone else's office.

A sharp rap at the door shattered her reverie. _I spoke too soon._

She glared at the door. "Come in." It swung open, revealing a grinning Ino--supporting a shaking Hinata. Sakura's eyes followed the Hyuuga as Ino led her to one of the chairs lined up against the far wall.

Ino turned to face Sakura, whose eyes flickered back to her as the blonde said, eyes dancing, "Wow, Forehead, I knew the Hokage was working you hard, but I never thought she's force you to nap in an empty office."

Sakura glanced again at Hinata, who sat massaging her ankle. Eyes still on the Hyuuga, she answered, "Nice to see you too, Ino-pig, but don't you have a shop to open?"

Confusion flickered across Ino's face. "No, we don't..." She followed Sakura's gaze. Comprehension dawned. "Oh, right. Yeah. I'll see you later, Forehead!"

Ino flounced out of the office in classic form, closing the door behind closed her eyes for a moment and took a deep breath before again looking to Hinata. The girl shrank back in the chair and winced as the motion jolted her injured leg. The sheer terror in her eyes quelled some of Sakura's frustration as she said, "Well, let's look at that leg."

Hinata's fear seemed to leave her, though she remained tense. "O-okay."

Sakura crossed the room in a silence that seemed to hover in the air and invade her body. She examined the leg quickly but thoroughly before announcing, "It looks like a common sprained ankle. We'll wrap it up and let it heal on its own. Just stay off it for a while."

Hinata smiled tightly in return. It didn't reach her eyes.

The silence settled in again as Sakura began to wrap Hinata's ankle. Hinata's hands were folded tightly in her lap, clenched so tightly that her knuckles were white. Her eyes were still on her work as she asked, "Why are you so nervous?"

For a long moment Hinata didn't answer. Then, in a tiny voice, "D-did you talk to Naruto?"

Sakura paused. "Yes."

Hinata fainted.

* * *

Hinata awoke to find herself lying on the floor. Sakura's voice came from somewhere behind her. "You alright?"

She inhaled sharply. Sakura.

Sakura occupied one of the chairs in which Hinata had been sitting, and she gestured for Hinata to take the other. She did, her entire body shaking and her eyes on the floor.

"Hinata." Sakura's tone was gentle, and Hinata looked up to meet her eyes. "I just want to know what's going on. Naruto's a mess, and clearly you are too. Please."

Hinata felt tears building again and glanced away. "I--" Her voice caught.

"Oh, Hinata." Sakura reached out and took the girl's hand. "Please tell me."

Hinata grasped for the little inner strength she knew she had. _Just spit it out,_ she told herself. "M-my father h-has arranged a marriage for me." She squeezed her eyes shut in an attempt to ward off the tears.

She tensed as unfamiliar arms closed around her and Sakura whispered, "I'm so sorry."

She relaxed for a moment before disentangling herself from the hug and whispering, "Me, too."

Sakura composed herself quickly. "So what are you planning on doing about it? You can't seriously plan on going through with this. It's insane."

Hinata laughed softly. "That's what Tenten said."

"And what does Tenten have to do with this?"

The tears returned, and again Hinata cursed herself for them. "Tenten--" She choked back a sudden sob. She took a deep breath and tried to continue. "I-I'm...I'm marrying N-Neji."

Sakura breathed in sharply.

A moment passed in silence.

Then the door swung open, and Naruto burst into the room. "Sakura! I couldn't find--" His eyes found Hinata, and in that moment the whole world was still.

* * *

-Well, first of all, I've got to apologize for the lack of NejiTen. I promise it's not turning into NaruHina-centric fic. It's just a matter of...sharing the spotlight, so to speak. Next chapter, I promise. Because I've got to leave you hanging on this front. Second, I've got to apologize for my utter lack of expediency in updating. I'm so, so sorry. I'm probably more mad at myself than you are at me. It's school, and it's debate, and it's life. But I'm finding time, and here are the fruits. As always, enjoy, and please please please review. For next chapter: Tenten finds Neji, and an interesting conversation WILL ensue.  
~Love, Dunie.


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